Baby joy for Sir Paul

Sir Paul McCartney's wife Heather is pregnant with the couple's first baby.

The baby is expected later this year, a spokesman for the McCartneys said.

In a statement, the couple said: "We are delighted with this happy news."

Mills McCartney, 34, has made no secret of her longing for a baby and rumours of a pregnancy have circulated over the past few weeks.

The couple have been trying for a child since they married in Ireland in June 2002.

It will be the first baby for the former model and the fifth for Sir Paul.

The 60-year-old former Beatle is father to Mary, 33, Stella, 31, and James, 25, and stepfather to Heather, 39, all by his first wife Linda.

Only three months ago, Mills McCartney told of her fears that she would never conceive.

She told interviewer Michael Parkinson that a catalogue of health problems had damaged her fertility.

Discussing pregnancy rumours, she said: "They said I'd been pregnant, which is really hurtful, knowing that I've had cancer of the uterus and two ectopic pregnancies.

"The chances of me getting pregnant are about that much (holding up her thumb and finger an inch apart) and I'm sure for any woman out there it's hard enough when your family keeps saying 'when are you going to have a baby, then?', never mind the whole world keeps saying 'oh, she's pregnant this week'."

A spokesman for the couple refused to elaborate on when the baby is due.